Burse breaks record at Rod McCary Invitational

After coming off a win at Bowling Green State University two weeks ago, the University of Cincinnati women’s track team had several standout performances at the Rod McCravy Memorial track meet that took place in Lexington, Ky., on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-7.

The Bearcats ended the meet with six top-five finishes and one top 10 finish.

“Our team performed very well. This was a big meet with several SEC teams in attendance and we held up really well,” said UC women’s tack and field head coach Susan Seaton.

Sophomore Natasha Burse was the difference maker for the Cats this weekend, finishing in the top five three times. Burse placed second in the 60-meter dash, fourth in the 200-meter dash and fifth in the 400-meter dash.

“[Burse] is a very fast runner; she is our all-means sprinter right now,” Seaton said. “She has done a really nice job working very hard, especially on her technique. She is getting better every week and that is why she is dropping her times. If she can put a perfect race together, we think she can run much faster than she has before.”

Burse also broke Charlyn Ray’s school record of 7.62 seconds in the 60-meter dash set back in 2002, with her heat time of 7.54 seconds.

Other impressive performances were made by freshmen MacKenzie Fields and Michelle Eby, who placed second and third respectively in the pole vault competition, setting marks of 12’ 7 1/2” and 12’ 1 1/2”.

“We really are having a very good season so far with those pole vaulters,” Seaton said. “With two more meets left, I think she is going to jump even higher than she has so far.”

The Bearcats now have their sights set on the All-Ohio meet starting next Friday, Feb. 13, in Findlay, Ohio.

“I like that our team stepped up to the level of competition and competed fearlessly,” Seaton said. “They really went out and said ‘Bring it on; we can compete with anybody,’ and that is what I liked most about our team this weekend.”

In addition to the women’s team, the men’s track and field team had a couple of good performances this weekend in Lexington as well. The Bearcat men concluded the weekend with two event wins and seven top-five finishes.

Sophomore Shane Shockey set a mark of 16’ 3/4” in the pole vault, while freshman Tommy Marks hit 15’ 7”, giving the Cats first and third place finishes.

Juniors Ryan Beltz and Brandon Fitz gave UC another first place finish in the high jump after both set heights of 6’ 8 1/4”.